This invention is concerned with a mould arrangement for use in a glassware container manufacturing machine comprising two mould portion carriers arranged to carry opposed mould portions, a column on which the carriers are both supported for pivoting movement about the column either towards one another to bring opposed mould portions into engagement with one another or away from one another to move opposed mould portions into mould open positions thereof, and cooling means operative to cool mould portions supported by the carriers.
Mould arrangements as described above are known in which the cooling means comprises passages in a mould carrier which pass cooling air to passages in a mould portion supported by the carrier so that the air passes through the passages in the mould portion and serves to cool it. In such cooling means, the air reaches the passages in the carrier either through flexible or articulated pipes attached to the carrier or through openings in a frame of the machine which communicate with openings to the passages in the carrier at certain positions of the carrier. Where flexible or articulated pipes are used, they constitute a source of potential failure of the arrangement as they are exposed to damage and are generally inconvenient as they occupy considerable space. Where communicating openings in the frame and the carrier are used, it is not possible to provide cooling for the mould portion throughout the cycle of the machine, since cooling can only be applied when the openings are in communication.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mould arrangement in which the cooling means comprises passages which pass cooling air to the mould portion carriers through passages which are not exposed and which communicate with the passages in the carriers throughout the cycle of the machine.